Chinese warplanes fly first nighttime mission near Taiwan: MND

ROC Central News Agency

03/17/2020 03:32 PM

Taipei, March 17 (CNA) Chinese warplanes were spotted flying near Taiwan's airspace at night for the first time Monday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Tuesday.

An unspecified number of Chinese military planes, consisting of J-11 jet fighters and KJ-500 early warning aircraft, flew over waters southwest of Taiwan and approached the country's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) at around 7 p.m. Monday, said military spokesman Shih Shun-wen (史順文).

The maneuvers, part of the Chinese squadron's nighttime training mission, represented the first time Chinese military aircraft were found flying near Taiwan's airspace at night, according to MND records.

Taiwan's Air Force responded by scrambling a number of F-16 and IDF fighter jets to closely monitor the movements of their Chinese counterparts.

The Taiwanese fighter jets issued radio warnings to the Chinese aircraft, which then flew away from the area, Shih said.

Based on MND records, the last time the Chinese military carried out a similar mission near Taiwan's airspace was on Feb. 28 when an unspecified number of Chinese H-6 bombers flew over waters southwest of Taiwan.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)

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